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. 1 May 1974-
(Law Day U.S.A.)
A Petition to the Congress of the United States
After two months of harassment, intimidation, threats, a direct
order and an attempted .article 15» all having to do with my hair,
the Army is going to try and kick me out.
What they are going to try to do is slip me out as quickly and
quietly as possible without due process of law. They are taking these
illegal actions against me even though I have not been proven guilty
of anything. This is typical of the Army's "under the table" operations
to prevent the American people, whom we supposedly defend, from knowing what is really going on.
They have left me no alternative except to fight them the only
way I know how. I.am taking the stand that the Army has absolutely
no right to tell people how to wear their hair.
I do not feel that the Army has the right to infringe on the
personal rights of soldiers. One of the areas where some of the most
serious violations occur, is in the area of personal appearance and
the individual's Constitutional right of choice in this matter. The
Army has shown, over a very long period of time that it is totally
incompetent to deal with this matter in any kind of logical or
sensible fashion. It continues, to this day, to impose a very arbitrary set of extremely conservative, so called,"standards" upon us
and, in most cases, we would not put up with them except that they
are literally crammed down our throats.
It claims "military necessity" Does this mean that our NATO Allies
the Germans, not to mention the Dutch, do not have the same "military
necessities"? They do not have the same hair, policies. It also claims
to support the volunteer concept even though their present position
on hair seriously discourages enlistment and re-enlistment.
The so called leaders of the U.S. Army, have turned their backs
on the legitimate complaints of the citizen soldier in the 1970's
and it is time, long overdue, for us to secure those rights which
are rightfully ours.
My name is Matthew Carroll, I am a 1st. Lt. and an Airborne
Ranger. I was Atomic Demolitions Platoon leader, Corps Commander at
Texas A&M University in 1970 and was elected to Who's Who in
American Colleges and Universities in the United States in 1971.
There is no way they can call me a radical. I feel that this is the
only truly responsible position that an officer in the U.S.Army can
take at this poxnt in time, especially after the things I have
witnessed during my past three years experience in the United States
Army.
I support Sgt. Dan Pruitt, the A.P. NCO, who was sentenced to
four months hard labor for refusing to cut his hair, in his
contention that the only reason the brass attempts to maintain this
situation is to seperate us from our civilian brothers and sisters
in order, to some day, make easier massacres such as Jackson State
and Kent State.
If you agree with position I am taking and with my legitimate
action to bring sorely needed change please sign this petition. We
can win but only with support of the masses of citizen soldiers.
SOLIDARITY!

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Ephemera Soldiers Movements

Full text

. 1 May 1974-
(Law Day U.S.A.)
A Petition to the Congress of the United States
After two months of harassment, intimidation, threats, a direct
order and an attempted .article 15» all having to do with my hair,
the Army is going to try and kick me out.
What they are going to try to do is slip me out as quickly and
quietly as possible without due process of law. They are taking these
illegal actions against me even though I have not been proven guilty
of anything. This is typical of the Army's "under the table" operations
to prevent the American people, whom we supposedly defend, from knowing what is really going on.
They have left me no alternative except to fight them the only
way I know how. I.am taking the stand that the Army has absolutely
no right to tell people how to wear their hair.
I do not feel that the Army has the right to infringe on the
personal rights of soldiers. One of the areas where some of the most
serious violations occur, is in the area of personal appearance and
the individual's Constitutional right of choice in this matter. The
Army has shown, over a very long period of time that it is totally
incompetent to deal with this matter in any kind of logical or
sensible fashion. It continues, to this day, to impose a very arbitrary set of extremely conservative, so called"standards" upon us
and, in most cases, we would not put up with them except that they
are literally crammed down our throats.
It claims "military necessity" Does this mean that our NATO Allies
the Germans, not to mention the Dutch, do not have the same "military
necessities"? They do not have the same hair, policies. It also claims
to support the volunteer concept even though their present position
on hair seriously discourages enlistment and re-enlistment.
The so called leaders of the U.S. Army, have turned their backs
on the legitimate complaints of the citizen soldier in the 1970's
and it is time, long overdue, for us to secure those rights which
are rightfully ours.
My name is Matthew Carroll, I am a 1st. Lt. and an Airborne
Ranger. I was Atomic Demolitions Platoon leader, Corps Commander at
Texas A&M University in 1970 and was elected to Who's Who in
American Colleges and Universities in the United States in 1971.
There is no way they can call me a radical. I feel that this is the
only truly responsible position that an officer in the U.S.Army can
take at this poxnt in time, especially after the things I have
witnessed during my past three years experience in the United States
Army.
I support Sgt. Dan Pruitt, the A.P. NCO, who was sentenced to
four months hard labor for refusing to cut his hair, in his
contention that the only reason the brass attempts to maintain this
situation is to seperate us from our civilian brothers and sisters
in order, to some day, make easier massacres such as Jackson State
and Kent State.
If you agree with position I am taking and with my legitimate
action to bring sorely needed change please sign this petition. We
can win but only with support of the masses of citizen soldiers.
SOLIDARITY!